Corner bead drywall compound applicator

ABSTRACT

A device for applying drywall compound to a length of corner bead. The device comprises a trough for holding a quantity of drywall compound and an opening at the bottom of the trough through which a length of corner bead may be inserted. A removable block is located near an opening in the trough having a plurality of grooves located therein for preventing excess drywall compound from adhering to the bead while allowing sufficient compound to remain with the bead. A flange attached to the top of the trough is adapted to be attached to a bucket, the bucket having a portion of the bottom removed, to provide drywall compound to the trough.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to drywall construction. More specifically, theinvention relates to a device for applying drywall mud or joint compoundto corner beads or tape-on-trims prior to their attachment to joints orcorners between adjacent drywall panels.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Corner beads are elongate, narrow strips of metal, plastic, or metalwith a paper face on one side, or the like, folded or angled along theirlongitudinal center line, or along a line offset from the center line insome cases, to produce a generally v-shaped cross-section. They are madein various angles and corner shapes, including sharp 90 degree anglecorners, sharp corners at other angles, rounded or so-called “bullnose”corners of various angles, and offset or L-shaped corners. Corner beadsare also designed for covering both inside (concave) and outside(convex) corners. For application to an inside corner, drywall mud isapplied to the outside (convex) faces of an inside corner bead. Forapplication to an outside corner, drywall mud is applied to the inside(concave) faces of an outside corner bead. Joint compound is applied tothe appropriate faces of the bead, and the bead is then pressed againstthe corner, with the joint compound forming an adhesive joint betweenthe bead and corner.

Although drywall mud or joint compound may be applied to corner beads byhand, this is a time consuming and inconvenient process. Hopper deviceshave been proposed in the past for applying joint compound to the insidefaces of an outside corner bead. One such apparatus is described in U.S.Pat. No. 5,169,449 of Raught. The apparatus comprises a hopper with aV-shaped trough in its base, and triangular shaped end walls at oppositeends of the trough forming a generally V-shaped gap between the loweredge of each end wall and the trough. Removable end panels areadjustably secured to the end panels to adjust the height of the gap. Acorner bead is fed through the base of the hopper from one end wallopening to the opposite end wall opening, and drywall mud in the hopperwill be applied to the upwardly facing surfaces of the corner bead. Allexcept a thin layer will be scraped off by the edge of the end panel asthe corner bead exits the hopper. Removable liners may be placed intothe hopper to define different trough cross-sectional shapes,corresponding to different shapes of corner bead, and associated withend panels with corresponding edge shapes.

Other systems have been designed which allow joint compound to beapplied to either the inside or outside faces of the corner for applyingthe corner bead to inside or outside corners. For example, U.S. Pat. No.6,907,908 discloses a hopper apparatus for applying joint compound tocorner beads that has a hopper for holding a quantity of joint compoundand a feeder apparatus secured across the lower end of the hopper. Thefeeder apparatus has a channel and a series of elongate feeder insertsfor selectively securing in the channel. A first set of outside feederinserts each have a generally V-shaped indented groove extending alongtheir length for guiding an outside corner bead through the feederapparatus, while a second set of inside feeder inserts each have agenerally V-shaped ridge extending along their length for guiding aninside corner bead through the feeder. The feeder inserts in each sethave grooves and ridges of different angles and corner shapes matchingthose of a plurality of different inside and outside corner beads andare releasably secured in the channel.

One problem with prior art hoppers having corner bead feeders forapplying joint compound is that they are used with hoppers that must befilled and then emptied with every use or the drywall compound withinthe hopper will become too dry to work with. This represents lost timeand tedious work to a drywall finishing professional. Moreover, priorart devices for applying drywall compound to a corner bead use panelswhich scrape the excess drywall compound from the corner bead to obtainthe desired surface for coating. However, in the past it has beenthought that thin panels were most advantageous, perhaps due to theabrasiveness of drywall compound. However, thin panels allow drywall toescape as the hopper sits, particularly when the hopper is full ofcompound, and if corner bead is pulled through on an angle, the thinpanels will deflect to wipe of excessive amounts of compound.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a device for applying drywall compoundto a length of corner bead. The device comprises a trough for holding aquantity of drywall compound and an opening at the bottom of the troughthrough which a length of corner bead may be inserted. A removable blockis located near an opening in the trough having a plurality of grooveslocated therein for preventing excess drywall compound from adhering tothe bead while allowing sufficient compound to remain with the bead. Aflange attached to the top of the trough is adapted to be attached to abucket, the bucket having a portion of the bottom removed, to providedrywall compound to the trough.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of an apparatus according to a preferred embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of an apparatus according to a preferredembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is front view of an apparatus according to a preferred embodimentof the invention with its legs in a first, extended position;

FIG. 4 is a front view of an apparatus according to a preferredembodiment of the invention with its legs in a second, retractedposition;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a side plate of a leg of the apparatusaccording to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a right side view of an apparatus with a block removedaccording to a preferred embodiment of the invention with its legs in afirst, extended position;

FIG. 7 is a right side view of an apparatus with a block insertedaccording to a preferred embodiment of the invention with its legs in afirst, extended position;

FIG. 8A is a front view of a block according to a preferred embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 8B is a side view of a block according to a preferred embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 9 is a front view of a pin according to a preferred embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 10 is a view of a container with the apparatus according to thepreferred embodiment of the present invention applied thereto restingupon a second container;

FIG. 11 is a view of a container with the apparatus according to thepreferred embodiment of the present invention applied thereto placedwithin the second container;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a bottom block according to a preferredembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13 is a top view of the device with a bottom block inserted thereinaccording to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 14 is a front view of a block according to another embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 15 is a front view of a block according to another embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a block of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a block of FIG. 16; and

FIG. 18 is a side view of a block and a bottom block according to anembodiment of the present invention adapted for bullnose corner beads.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many differentforms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described indetail preferred embodiments of the invention with the understandingthat the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification ofthe principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broadaspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated.

Referring to FIG. 1, the present invention comprises an apparatus 10 forapplying drywall compound to a length of corner molding. The apparatus10 includes a top plate 12 comprising a circular plate defining acentral opening 14. The top plate 12 has a top surface 18 and includes aplurality of bores 16 generally evenly spaced about the circumference ofthe top plate 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, attached to a bottom surface 20 of the top plate 12are two pairs of flanges 22 and 24. The pairs of flanges 22 and 24,which may also be provided as a single assembly, are preferably attachedby welding an extension 25 of the flange 22 or 24 to the top plate 12.The flanges 22 and 24 each define through-bores (not shown) throughwhich fasteners 26 are inserted. The fasteners 26 also extend throughthrough-bores (not shown) located in a pair of rotatably attached legs28 and 30.

The legs 28 and 30 each comprise a pair of side plates 32 attached toone another with a pair of bars 34. The side plates 32 have a profile asshown in FIG. 5, which includes a bucket rest cutout 33. Adjacent thebucket rest cutout 33 is a safety hook portion 37 which keeps the sideplates 32 in association with the buckets, as described below. The legs28 and 30 are rotatable about the fasteners 26 between a first, extendedposition as shown in FIG. 3 where the legs 28 and 30 rest against stops35 on the flanges 22 and 24 and a second, retracted position as shown inFIG. 4 where the legs 28 and 30 contact one another.

A V-shaped trough 36 is also attached to the bottom side 20 of the topplate 12. The trough 36 covers the central opening 14. Ends of thetrough 36 are open as viewed in FIG. 6, but the end openings arepartially covered by end plates 38 extending from the top plate that arelocated inboard of an outer edge of the trough 36. A cutout 39 islocated in each end plate 38.

Placed in the ends of the trough 36 are blocks 40 (FIGS. 8A and 8B).Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the blocks 40 fit within the end openingsand against the end plates 38. The blocks 40 generally conform to theend openings of the trough 36 also include a recessed portion 39 thatforms a gap 42 near a bottom 44 of the trough 36. Referring back toFIGS. 8A and 8B, grooves 46 are formed in the bottom of the blocks 40(FIG. 8A). The blocks 40 are preferably made from a phenolic materialwhich is rigid and can withstand the abrasiveness of drywall compound.The gap 42 between the block 40 and the trough 36 is preferably about ¼″or 3/16″ and the grooves 46 are preferably ⅛″ deep. Additionally, theblock 40 is preferably about 1½″ thick. It has been discovered that athicker block 40 prevents drywall compound from being easily forcedthrough the gap 42 when the apparatus 10 is not being used. The blocks40 preferably removably held in place by pins 48 (FIG. 9) that extendthrough the trough 36 and through a bore 100 in the block in the block40. A block 40 not defining grooves 46 may also be used on one side ofthe trough 36. The block 40 is further located ¼″ or more from the edgeof the trough in order to provide a surface of the trough 36 upon whichto rest the corner bead or make alignment and insertion of the cornerbead easier into the gap 42 easier. Moreover, the block 40 defines asecond bore 102 in the block 40 which is located at a different verticalheight to provide for a different width gap.

Finally, it is preferred that corner bead support flanges 44 areattached to either side of the trough with the pin 48. The corner beadsupport blocks 44 help support corner bead as it is fed through theapparatus.

Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12, the apparatus 10 of the present inventionis used by taking a common five-gallon bucket 104 in which drywallcompound is normally delivered and cutting a hole in the bottom of thebucket that at least conforms to the size of the opening 14. The topplate 12 is then attached to the bottom of the bucket 104 of drywallwith fasteners, as shown in FIG. 10. In this manner a common five-gallondrywall bucket is used as a hopper for the apparatus 10, containingdrywall compound which by the force of gravity falls into the trough 36.The common five gallon bucket 104 further includes a lid which can bereplaced on the bucket 104 between uses so that that hopper of theapparatus does not need to be emptied and cleaned between uses.

The apparatus 10 is used by inserting a length of drywall corner beadinto one end of the trough 36 and pushing it through the trough 36 untilit extends out the other end of the trough 36. The drywall compoundwithin the trough 36 adheres to top surface of the corner bead, and thecorner bead is pulled through the trough 36 until its full length hasgone through the trough 36. On the exit end of the trough 36, the gap 40formed by the recess 39 allows an appropriate amount of drywall compoundto exit the trough 36 adhered to the corner bead. The grooves 46 furtherallow raised beads of drywall compound to exit the trough 36 on thecorner bead. In this manner drywall compound is applied to the surfaceof the corner bead.

Referring to FIG. 11, in order to bring the apparatus 10 up to anappropriate working height, the legs 28 and 30 are placed in theposition shown in FIG. 3 and placed on top of a second, preferably emptyfive gallon bucket 106 of the type in which drywall compound is normallydelivered. The second bucket 106 further acts as a receptacle to drywallcompound that falls off of the corner bead as it is pulled through inorder to minimize mess.

Moreover, the second empty bucket 106 is utilized as a storagereceptacle for the apparatus 10. By placing the legs 28 and 30 in theposition of FIG. 4, the first bucket 104 serving as the hopper and theapparatus can be set into the second bucket 106 as shown in FIG. 12. Inthis manner, the first bucket 104 can be sealed with its lid and theapparatus placed into the second bucket 106 and the apparatus does nothave to be emptied of drywall compound and cleaned for storage betweenuses because drywall compound portions of the apparatus 10 will besealed from air and therefore the drywall compound within first bucket104 and the trough 36 will not dry out.

While present invention is described with the trough having the profileof an inverted triangle as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, it is within theskill of one of ordinary skill in the art that the drywall trough andthe block can take on any appropriate form for different type of cornerbead and for applying drywall compound to an opposite side of the cornerbead for applying, for example, compound to inside corners, bull nosecorners, ells and end caps.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention also comprises abottom block 50 as shown in FIG. 13. The bottom block 50 is placed inthe bottom of the trough 36 and, as shown in FIG. 14, causing the bottomof the tough 36 to be convex rather than concave. Extensions 51cooperate with the trough to hold the bottom block 50 in place.

Referring to FIGS. 15-18, the blocks 40 are replaced with block 52 andblock 54. The block 54 defines a plurality of grooves 56 in a concaveportion of the block 54. The blocks 52 and 54 may optionally alsocomprise a tapered portion 58 for guiding the corner bead through thedevice. By using the bottom block 50 and the blocks 52 and 54, drywallcompound may be applied to the other surface of the corner bead so thatthe corner bead can be applied to inside rather than outside corners.

Referring to FIG. 19, the blocks 40 are replaced with blocks 60, whichare modified to have a convex curved bottom surface 62 to handle outsidebullnose corner beads. The bottom block 50 is similarly replaced withbottom block 64 which has a concave curved surface 66 that correspondsto the convex surface 62. Similarly, it will be understood by one ofordinary skill in the art that the block 40 and bottom block 50 can havethe appropriate profile to handle corner bead of most any profile usedas inside or outside corner beads.

While the specific embodiments have been illustrated and described,numerous modifications come to mind without significantly departing fromthe spirit of the invention, and the scope of protection is only limitedby the scope of the accompanying claims.

1. A device for applying drywall compound to a length of corner beadcomprising: a trough for holding a quantity of drywall compound; anopening at the bottom of the trough through which a length of cornerbead may be inserted; a removable block located near an opening in thetrough for preventing excess drywall compound from adhering to the beadwhile allowing sufficient compound to remain with the bead; and a flangeattached to the top of the trough adapted to be attached to a bucket,the bucket having a portion of the bottom removed, to provide drywallcompound to the trough.
 2. The device of claim 1 further comprising apair of legs rotatably attached to the trough, the legs being adapted tomove between an extended position in which the legs support the deviceand a retracted position in which the legs do not extend past an outerperiphery of the flange.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein the block ismaintained in place by a pin that extends through the device and theblock.
 4. The device of claim 1 wherein the block defines a bottomsurface having the same general shape as a bottom surface of the trough.5. The device of claim 1 wherein the block defines grooves on a surfacethereof for allowing a defined quantity of drywall compound to adhere tothe bead.
 6. The device of claim 1 wherein the flange defines borestherethrough for attaching the flange to the bottom of a bucket.
 7. Thedevice of claim 2 wherein the legs may be retracted to store the itemwithin a bucket of the same size as the bucket attached to the flange.8. The device of claim 1 wherein the trough has a concave bottomsurface.
 9. The device of claim 1 further comprising a bottom blockinsertable into the trough, the bottom block creating a convex bottomsurface of the trough.
 10. The device of claim 9 wherein the block has abottom surface having the same general convex shape as the trough withthe bottom block inserted therein.
 11. A device for applying drywallcompound to a length of corner bead comprising: a general concave shapedtrough for holding a quantity of drywall compound; an opening at thebottom of the trough through which a length of corner bead may beinserted; a removable block located near opening in the trough having aplurality of grooves located therein for preventing excess drywallcompound from adhering to the bead while allowing sufficient compound toremain with the bead; and a flange attached to the top of the troughadapted to be attached to a bucket, the bucket having a portion of thebottom removed, to provide drywall compound to the trough.
 12. Thedevice of claim 11 further comprising a pair of legs rotatably attachedto the trough, the legs being adapted to move between an extendedposition in which the legs support the device and a retracted positionin which the legs do not extend past an outer periphery of the flange.13. The device of claim 11 wherein the block is maintained in place by apin that extends through the device and the block.
 14. The device ofclaim 11 wherein the block defines a bottom surface having the samegeneral shape as a bottom surface of the trough.
 15. The device of claim11 wherein the block defines grooves on a surface thereof for allowing adefined quantity of drywall compound to adhere to the bead.
 16. Thedevice of claim 11 wherein the flange defines bores therethrough forattaching the flange to the bottom of a bucket.
 17. The device of claim12 wherein the legs may be retracted to store the item within a bucketof the same size as the bucket attached to the flange.
 18. The device ofclaim 11 wherein the trough has a concave bottom surface.
 19. The deviceof claim 11 further comprising a bottom block insertable into thetrough, the bottom block creating a convex bottom surface of the trough.20. The device of claim 19 wherein the block has a bottom surface havingthe same general convex shape as the trough with the bottom blockinserted therein.